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Thursday, 15 May 2014

Let's return to the description of Pelagia, the highly successful actress of the Antiochan stage:

The worldly crowd could not get enough of their beauty and
attractiveness. As they passed by us the air was filled with the scent
of musk and other most delicious perfumes, but when the bishops saw her
passing by so immodestly, with her head bare, and the outlines of her
body clearly visible, nothing over her shoulders as well as her head,
and yet the object of such adulation, they all fell silent, groaned and
sighed, and averted their eyes as if being forced to witness some grave
sin.

Now, for the second installment of the story.Chapter VNext Sunday, after we had completed the prayers of the night, the holy bishop Nonnus said to me:"I
must tell you, brother deacon, I have had a dream which disturbs me
greatly, for I don't understand what it means. Standing near me on the
edge of the altar, I saw a black dove, absolutely covered in filth. It
flew all around me and I could hardly bear the stink of its unpleasant
filth. After the deacon proclaimed 'Depart' [Catechumens
had to depart after what we would call nowadays 'Ministry of the Word'.
The offering and consecration of the sacred elements was for the
faithful only]
to the catechumens, it was nowhere to be seen. But after the Mass of
the Faithful and the completion of the offering and the dismissal of the
church, as we went out the door of the house of God, there was that
dove again, still covered in filth and flying around me as before. I
reached out my hand and caught it, and plunged it into the pool in the
courtyard in front of the holy church. All the dirt covering it was
washed off in the water, and it flew up out of the water as white as
snow. It was carried away in its flight high up out of the sight of my
eyes."Having told me his dream, the holy bishop of God, Nonnus, took
me with him to the great church with the other bishops, where we
greeted the bishop of the city.

Chapter VIAs
he went in he spoke a few words of encouragement to the people of the
church as they sat in their seats, and after the canonical prayers and
the reading of the holy Gospel, the bishop of the city offered the holy
Gospel to the most blessed Nonnus and asked him to speak to the people.
He opened his mouth and poured out the wisdom of God which dwelt within
him. His words owed nothing to studied composition, nothing to
philosophy, and yet there was nothing indiscreet about him. He was
completely human, yet filled with the holy Spirit. He taught the people
and warned them, speaking with sincerity about the judgement to come and
the good things laid up for us in eternity. The people found the words
he had spoken by the holy Spirit so moving that their tears flowed all
over the floor.

Chapter VIINow
it so happened, by the guidance of the divine mercy, that there was
present in the church that very harlot whom we have previously
mentioned. The wonderful thing is that taking thought for her sins had
never induced her to come to church as a catechumen before, but as
Nonnus was instructing the people she was suddenly so overcome by the
fear of God, that she fell into complete despair and burst into floods
of tears, which she could in no way restrain. She gave instructions to
two of her slaves that they should stay there until the holy bishop
Nonnus left, follow him, find out where he was staying, and come back
and tell her. They did as their mistress instructed, and followed him to
the basilica of the most blessed martyr Julian, where we had our cell.
They came back and reported to their mistress that he was staying in the
basilica of the most blessed martyr Julian, whereupon she sent tablets
to the bishop by these two slaves containing the following message:"O
holy servant of Christ, I am a sinful woman and servant of the devil. I
have heard that your God, who upholds the arc of the heavens, came down
to earth not for the sake of the righteous but to save sinners. He upon
whom the Cherubim dare not gaze humbled himself to be a friend of
publicans, and talked with sinners. Now, even though you, my lord, who
display such holiness, have never set mortal eyes on this same Lord
Jesus Christ who showed mercy on the Samaritan woman at the well,
nevertheless you are a true worshipper of him, as I have heard
Christians tell. So if you really are a true disciple of Christ do not
turn your face away from me, for through you I long to see the Saviour,
through you perhaps I may get a glimpse of his holy face."The holy bishop Nonnus wrote back:"Whoever
you are, you are known of God, and he knows both what you have done and
what you want. But I have to ask you not to put too big a strain on my
humility, for I too am human, a servant of God who is a sinner. So if
you truly have a desire for God for virtue and faith, and want to see
me, come, and see me in the midst of all the other bishops who are with
me, for I could not allow you to see me alone."The woman was
overjoyed to read what he had written, and went to the basilica of the
blessed martyr Julian, where she made her presence known to us. The holy
bishop Nonnus called on all the other bishops who were there and asked
them to meet with him. The woman came before the gathered bishops, threw
herself on the floor before the blessed bishop Nonnus, and grasped his
feet."I am asking you, my lord," she said "to imitate the action of
your master the Lord Jesus Christ, and show your good will towards me by
making me a Christian. For I, my lord, am an ocean of sins and a sink
of iniquity. I ask to be baptised."

Chapter VIIIThe holy bishop Nonnus bade her rise and stand in front of him."The
priestly canons," he then said, "do not allow harlots to be baptised
unless they can provide guarantors to see that they do not fall back
into their former sins."She threw herself down once more upon the
floor and grasped the feet of holy Nonnus, washed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair (Luke 7.38)."You
will have to give an account to God for my soul," she said, "and I
shall lay at your door all the iniquities of my misdeeds, if you put off
baptising me, wicked and repulsive though I am. You will not be given
your portion with the saints in the presence of God unless you now cut
me off from all my evil doings. You would be denying God and worshipping
idols if you do not today give me new birth as a bride of Christ and
offer me to God."All the bishops and clerics who were there were
deeply moved at the sight of this woman speaking out in such a way
because of her desire for God. Never had they witnessed such faith and
desire for salvation as this harlot was demonstrating. And they sent me,
a sinful deacon, straight away to the bishop of the city, to tell his
blessedness everything that had happened and to ask that he send back
one of the deaconesses with me.[In the early church one of the duties of deaconesses was to clothe the female candidates in a white baptismal gown.] His reaction was one of great joy, and he had this message for the holy Nonnus."Well done, reverend father. Carry on with what you are doing. I am aware that you are acting on my behalf."And
he immediately instructed the lady Romana, the chief deaconess, to come
back with me. When she came in she found the woman still at the feet of
the holy bishop Nonnus, who had great difficulty in persuading her to
get up."You must get up, my daughter," he said, "and be exorcised. And first, confess all your sins.""If
I were to scrutinise everything I know to be in my heart, I would not
be able to find any good deeds at all. But I know my sins are more
numerous than the sands of the sea. The ocean is miniscule compared with
the extent of my sins. But I trust in your God that he will relieve me
of the burden of my sins and look kindly upon me.""Tell me your name," said the holy bishop Nonnus."Pelagia was the name given to me by my parents, but the Antiochenes call me Margarita (Pearl),
because of the masses of jewellery I had earned through my sins. I used
to be the devil's jewel, and reckoned to be part of his work force.""But your proper name is Pelagia?""Yes, my lord."Upon
this the holy bishop Nonnus exorcised her, baptised her, signed her
with the cross of the Lord, and gave her the body of Christ. The chief
deaconess, the lady Romana, became her spiritual mother, and took her
into the place reserved for the catechumens, where we also gathered
together."I tell you, brother deacon," the holy bishop Nonnus then
said to me, "today we are rejoicing in the presence of the Angels of
God, so let us have oil today with our food, contrary to our usual
custom, and drink a little wine to celebrate our spiritual joy at the
salvation of this young woman."